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Monday, May 05, 2008

star quilt along, week 2

Welcome to week 2 of the star quilt along.

Several of you have made the block for week 1 and it ended up measuring less than 12.5". If that happened to you, here are a few things to try.

First, sew a seam and measure it with a ruler. (double click on the image to see it larger.) It should measure exactly 1/4". If the seam is larger, your block will end up too small. Also, you will end up losing the points of your triangles. It does take some practice. When there are so many seams in one block, accuracy really becomes important. (Don't think that I have this perfected, I still have missing points in a few of my stars.)

If your seams are accurate, the next thing to check is your cutting accuracy.

There is an alternative to this. If you really don't want to worry about the accuracy, you can add white borders around your blocks to make them a uniform size and choose to set the block differently than in this particular star quilt. (Something along the lines of this quilt, do you see how the blocks float in the white?) That is one way around it. But I would encourage you to keep trying for the accurately sized block. It does get better with practice.

OK, so on to block 2...cut one square 6 1/2" from a medium print fabriccut one square 7 1/4" from the background fabriccut it on the diagonal (twice) to make 4 quarter square trianglescut 4 squares 3 1/2" from the background fabriccut 4 squares 3 7/8" from a darker printed fabric (the contrast is important for the design of the star to stand out)cut each of those squares in half on the diagonal to make 8 half square triangleslayout as shownSew together and square it up so it measures 12.5".

I'm not sure how to upload my square to the flickr group. I joined the group and then clicked upload but the photo is only on my flickr page. Can anyone tell me how to get it onto the Quilt Along page?Thanks again AJ for this great tutorial!~jane

first, join the quilt along group. then, when you are looking at the photo of your quilt block on your page (you need to have clicked on it, so you are only working with that one photo) there is a series of buttons right above the photo, and one should say add to group. select the quilt along group and it should add it to the pool. hope that helps.

I have finished the first block and am on to the second. Question: Some people in the flicker group have already posted pictures of the "X" squares. Did I miss the instructions for that? or are they just actual quilter who can figure it out on their own unlike me, a fake quilter?

Read my latest post. I posted the scrap quilt I made after you gave me some tips. I'm super proud of it, and I wanted to thank you SO MUCH for helping me with the "jump start." Click on the photos to see them big. I left them big so you can see the details. Thanks again!

Yay for the second block! And I have a question, are you going to save directions for the X blocks till last? Or show us sooner so we can make them as we go along? I too saw some completed ones on the group and now I am getting worried! LOL! Thank you so much for doing this, it is so fun, and I have been looking so forward to you posting this second block and I made mine right away!

Thanks Amandajean. Great that you included the comments about medium/darker print, and for the star to stand out... obvious, I know, but it gives pause for people like me to LOOK carefully because I cut! :> Found a light yellow TOT fabric that I thought I'd never use and it worked!

I'm done with the 2nd block too and yes, please post the X block soon, so we can work on them in between blocks :>

i believe the square blocks you are seeing on the flickr group are from the previous quilt along. some people are working on 2 squares a week, one from this quilt along, one from the last quilt along. you didn't miss anything yet, and you are not a fake quilter, either. :)